Internet Addiction - A Handbook and Guide to Evaluation and Treatment

"This book provides cutting-edge coverage by expanding the field to include specific problems such as online gaming, cybersex addiction, and gambling addiction. Its extensive attention to dealing with adolescents is essential, given the rapid rise in media and technology use by both Net Generation young adults and iGeneration teenagers. I am thrilled to have this invaluable, comprehensive, well-written resource for my own work and recommend it to people who need to understand this unique form of addiction."
—Dr. Larry Rosen, Past Chair and Professor of Psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, author of Rewired: Understanding the iGeneration and the Way They Learn and Me, MySpace, and I: Parenting the Net Generation

"Our clients come to us when online pornography, video gaming, social networking, gambling, and surfing create untenable disruptions in their lives. If we do not understand what we are seeing and how to address it, we will not be able to provide the help they need. This book provides the practical information clinicians can use to assess and treat this growing problem."
—Hilarie Cash, PhD, coauthor of Video Games and Your Kids: How Parents Stay in Control, and cofounder of reSTART: Internet Addiction Recovery Program

"Internet Addiction: A Handbook and Guide to Evaluation and Treatment provides an integrated and current overview of the different types of Internet addiction-gaming addiction, gambling addiction, and cybersex addiction. The authors deserve ample praise in providing such a comprehensive and informative guide for Internet addiction."
—Ran Tao, MD, Professor and Director, and Xiuqin Huang, MD, Associate Professor, Treatment Center for Internet Addiction, General Hospital of Beijing Military Region, China

The first empirically informed reference for defining, assessing, diagnosing, and treating problematic Internet use Comprehensive and timely, Internet Addiction explores:

• Validated assessment tools to differentiate normal from compulsive patterns of computer and online usage

• The most addictive or problematic online activities

• Epidemiology and subtypes of Internet addiction such as online pornography, Internet gambling, and online gaming

• Current theories on the risk factors associated with the development of an addictive disorder related to Internet usage

• Evidence-based treatment strategies for helping clients of various ages, taking into account main presenting problems and individual situations and circumstances

International in scope and empirically based, the cultural and global impact of this subject is discussed, introducing practitioners to the latest clinical implications, assessment methods, and treatment approaches in working with clients suffering from this emerging addictive disorder.